Voice of the People, Aug. 11

August 11, 2011

This is in response to "Bike-path reminders" (Voice of the People, July 26), from letter-writer Emerson Bolen. I, too, ride the "bike paths" frequently in Cook, DuPage, Kane and Will counties. I would like to correct him about whose trails they are: They are multiuse trails, not bike trails. The speed limit is whatever is safe (20 mph would not be safe).

I find that, most of the time, the trail users are considerate and I seldom have problems. My only complaint is that there are not enough people out using our great trails. (Turn off the TV and use the trails before it gets too dark and too cold.)

— Don Mueggenborg, Lemont

Safer cyclists

Now that Mayor Rahm Emanuel has given bicyclists their own lane on a part of Kinzie Street ("Protected bike lanes get a 2nd green light; Chicago's first stretch on Kinzie to be followed by another on Jackson," News, July 26), maybe he should check into holding cyclists responsible for the rules of the road or, at least, taxing, licensing, displaying plates and being insured.

It's time for bikers using the thoroughfares to become responsible travelers like the drivers who look out for the cyclists as they blow through stop signs and red lights.

Bikers are somewhat essential to the economy, especially downtown, when delivering hard copies between companies. So here's the thing: Let the businesses that employ them pay for licenses and insurance. Maybe then they'll be safer on the road and drivers won't be standing on the brakes when one of them is in the middle of the intersection, balancing on the bike and waiting to dash down the road and into more traffic.

And let the recreational bikers pay their way as well.

— Timothy D.O'Reilly, Chicago

Future bookstores

I share Tribune reporter John Keilman's sadness at the loss of bookstores and reading/holding bound books ("Books will have a longer shelf life than bookstores," News, July 26).

Not to worry. I'm convinced bookstores will again reopen — just give it time.

I envision a future scenario when ophthalmologists, scientists and the public grow increasingly alarmed over a sudden upsurge of people around the world with strange eye disorders. The pharmaceutical companies will become interested. Research will begin. After years of research, a statement is released to the public stating that eyes exposed to electronic light daily for prolonged periods of time may cause blindness. I imagine it will be as effective as the first surgeon general's report that cigarettes cause cancer.

So decades later, when there's a global epidemic of blindness, people will demand bookstores reopen. And they will — with books printed in Braille.

— Pearl Hirshfield, Evanston

Election wish list

The election isn't until the end of 2012. Give me a law that states:

• Campaigning cannot begin until two months before Election Day.

• Each candidate can only spend $20,000 of his or her own money, thereby eliminating "war chests," million-dollar fundraisers and big donation givers, who expect favorable grants, contracts, etc.

• Each term is six years and then the elected officials go back to their real jobs. Our forefathers were farmers, doctors, lawyers, librarians, schoolteachers, etc., who gave up their time to represent the people. Being a politician was never meant to be a career. I believe if our politicians actually had a profession other than politics, better decisions would be made because they would be part of the real world and not be self-centered, egotistical, privileged ones of politics. The politicians are legends in their own minds.

This might not be easy to accomplish, but I believe the people, all people, would be better off if this system were created.

— Leeandra Golembiewski, Streamwood

Angry voters

During the last decade, the Bush administration turned a surplus into huge deficits. By the time Bush left office, America was collapsing. Then in 2010, Americans voted into dominance in the U.S. House the same party that caused the collapse. So whose fault is it that we came close to a default on America's debt? It's the fault of those who voted in the Republicans.

When voters vote in a state of anger and denial, then that's what we get.

Bad decisions lead to bad results. America voted to destroy itself, and the Tea Party is carrying out the will of the voters who elected its candidates.

If you want a different result, you have to stop doing the things that got you in trouble in the first place.

— Marc Perkel, Gilroy, Calif.

Improving U.S. Steel

The U.S. Steel site in southeast Chicago still sits forlornly empty along its prime stretch of lakefront. Some underwhelming plans and a temporary concert site are all we've seen so far. The State Line Power Station (scheduled to close soon) squats on its prime lakefront site — now a major source of air pollution and an unsightly gateway to both Illinois and Indiana for I-90 motorists.